"Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale"—Rudolf Virchow

June 27, 2009

H1N1 and the homeless

As the number of H1N1 flu cases rise nationally, local homeless shelters hope to reduce infection rates and some changes are already visible at some South Florida shelters.

Camillus House, for example, has reduced the number of beds and imposed a curfew, officials there told CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.
The facility has enough beds for 250 homeless men and women, but has been reduced to about 180, Camillus House CEO Paul Ahr told the newspaper.

''What we're concerned about is people that are going out at night, partying, maybe shooting up and coming back and making everybody else sick,'' Ahr said.

One homeless person has already tested positive for the H1N1 flu, but it was unknown which shelter the person had stayed at.

The Miami-Dade Health Department said there have been 193 confirmed H1N1 flu cases and one death.

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As the number of H1N1 flu cases rise nationally, local homeless shelters hope to reduce infection rates and some changes are already visible at some South Florida shelters.

Camillus House, for example, has reduced the number of beds and imposed a curfew, officials there told CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.
The facility has enough beds for 250 homeless men and women, but has been reduced to about 180, Camillus House CEO Paul Ahr told the newspaper.

''What we're concerned about is people that are going out at night, partying, maybe shooting up and coming back and making everybody else sick,'' Ahr said.

One homeless person has already tested positive for the H1N1 flu, but it was unknown which shelter the person had stayed at.

The Miami-Dade Health Department said there have been 193 confirmed H1N1 flu cases and one death.